Anthony Edward Stark is Dead, Long Live Tony
by SiniseSnakeEyes
Summary: "Famous Stark family dead! On the drive home from a party the car of the Stark family crashed from a cliff in a turn, the bodies were found which matched the DNA of Howard Stark, his wife Maria and their fifteen-year-old son Anthony!"...Wait! What? How can that be if Tony is sitting right here in a hospital? Read and find out.
1. Prologue: Famous Stark Family Dead

**Prologue****: ****Famous Stark Family Dead**

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_**Disclaimer:** I only own the plot!_

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"_**Famous Stark family dead!**__ On the drive home from a party the car of the Stark family crashed from a cliff in a turn. The car literally exploded and four bodies were found which match the DNA of their driver Edwin Jarvis, the famous Howard Stark himself, his wife Maria and their fifteen-year-old son Anthony! The death of such an important …"_

The television went black and a teenager with black hair and bandages all over his body muttered: "People are so stupid. Believe the lie they are feed with so easily…"

Well technically it hadn't been a complete lie: Howard and Maria Stark had died that night - together with the kind butler Jarvis - but their genius son had miraculously survived the crash and had been rescued by a guy - in a black suit like the special agents in movies wore them. Tony had lost consciousness a few moments after that and when he had woken up he had been in this incredibly white room and the television had been on displaying the news he had just seen. Right now he was trying to find the missing pieces of the puzzle to why there had been four corpses when he was fine and why would everyone believe that he was dead when he was just sitting here in what seemed to be a hospital – _military_ hospital corrected his brain absently. His brain was going into overdrive when suddenly the door to his room whooshed open and a black man with a leather coat and eye patch over his left eye stepped into the room followed by the man that had pulled Tony out of the car.

"So you're finally awake son."

Tony's eyes narrowed dangerously at the men in the leather coat. No one – and he meant NO ONE - called him 'son', not even Howard had called him that. "Do not call me 'son'!"

The two men raised each an eyebrow and exchanged glances. "Well then I will just call you Anthony."

Right then Tony decided that he didn't like that man – not only did he use the names he detested most but he also had that kind of aura of authority around him that Tony really hated since it reminded him of the now deceased Howard Stark. But instead of arguing with Mr Eye Patch (Tony didn't even knew the guys name yet!) he just asked what was on his mind: "Who are you? What was that crap about me being dead and why am I in a fucking military hospital? I'm sure a normal one would have worked perfectly fine too!"

The mood of Mr eye patch had definitely dropped and he said: "Watch your language boy. And to answer your questions: My name is Nick Fury and this is Agent Coulson. I'm the director of SHIELD and my agent here rescued you out of that car."

"Yeah I know. I remember that part. Thanks by the way." The last part was said to the agent that was now standing on the left side of his bed and Tony got a small smile that said you're-welcome. "So I'm here because he brought me here instead of a normal hospital. Why?"

Fury seemed like he wanted to rip Tony's head off for interrupting him but said instead: "You're officially dead to the world as you already know. We arranged that because it wasn't an incident that the car crashed, someone wanted it to! I knew Howard and since you're his son I decided that the best way to protect you was to let it look like you died too."

Tony starred at Fury. He didn't like where this was going. "And what will happen to me now?"

"Agent Coulson is assigned to be your constant shadow and you will be seen as a member off SHIELD but you won't become an Agent. When you're older you can work for us and since you're a genius with technic you could work in our development apartment in the future. But you won't be allowed to go anywhere without a SHIELD Agent just to be sure."

'My life is totally over…' was Tony's first thought when he heard that. 'I'm going to be a puppet for this SHIELD when I just got free from being one for Howard.' Out loud he said: "What about Stark Industries? What will happen to it?"

"Your fathers partner will take it over since he too thinks that you're dead. But we arranged it that you have a part in Stark Industries just not under the name of Anthony Stark and you will also get your inheritance."

Tony only nodded and his eyes slowly shut while he sank exhausted into the bed. Talking had really drained him of any energy that he had regained and could hear how his bodyguard? watchdog? opened his mouth and said to his superior: "Sir I think it would be best to let him rest now." Tony didn't hear a reply only one person leaving the room and another sitting down into the chair beside his bed. Tony slowly drifted into a deep sleep.

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_**Note:**__ That was just the prologue to let you all have an idea how this AU looks like. The next chapter will set a few years later to speed things up a bit._

**_Note 2: I opened a poll where you can decide if there should be Slash (Frostiron) in later chapters since I can not really decide myself. If you shouldn't chose Slash then I will maybe write an AU side story of this fic for the ones that chose it._**


	2. Chapter 1: Meeting the Hawk

**Chapter 1: Meeting the Hawk**

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Tony sat in Fury's bureau and in Fury's chair while working with a keyboard that only he could see thanks to a pair of sunglasses he had built that projected the keyboard and the screen. The positive thing about that was that no one else could see what he was working on.

Why he was sitting in Fury's chair? Just because he could and to piss Fury off since that guy still hadn't allowed him outside of the SHIELD HQ – after two years not once! And Tony felt more and more like a prisoner even with Phil and Jarvis to talk to and plenty of material to invent things. He didn't want to build thing for SHIELD anymore and so he delayed the completion of one of Fury's requests and worked instead on some personal projects – thus the special sunglasses.

"Sir, Agent Coulson is on his way here and he has someone with him. I think it would be wise to leave now." Chimed the AI from the earpiece that Tony had (obviously) in his ear.

"But Jarvis I hadn't even had the chance to annoy Fury with my presence and that was the whole point of coming here!"

"Even though sir you have to consider that Agent Coulson could get problems for you hacking the security codes of the door – again."

"Alright, alright. I'm leaving." Tony moved to the door and was just about to step into the hall when Coulson was standing right in front of him. "Tony, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, uhm, hi Phil. I just waited for Director Eye Patch to arrive since I wanted to annoy him but Jarvis said that would be a bad idea since you could get into trouble for me hacking the security codes… again." Tony had learned over the last two years that it would be the best to always tell Phil Coulson the truth.

Coulson sighed and said: "One of these days Tony I WILL use my Taser on you so that you can't do anything stupid… Go. Go to your room before I change my mind and really use my Taser."

Tony slowly backed away from the agent and simultaneously eyed the person that was standing behind Phil. It was a young man in violet outfit and bow on his back. He looked to be around Tony's age maybe one or two years older but not more.

Before he walked away from the two he stopped and turned back to Coulson. "Meeting still stands?"

Coulson nodded and at the same time Jarvis' voice chimed in his earpiece: "Sir, Fury is five minutes away from your position. I would hurry up if I were you."

"Thank you Jarvis." murmured Tony. (No one except Tony and Phil knew of Jarvis and it was better if no one else learned of him so long they hadn't proved themselves to Tony.)

The young agent – or whatever he was – looked curiously at him even if he hide it well but when you spend two years with Coulson you could read faces pretty well even if they seemed avoid of any emotion to others. Tony started walking to his room and shouted over his shoulder back to Coulson. "You can bring him to our meeting if you want to Phil."

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And gone he was. The archer turned to his superior. "Sir can I ask what this was about?"

"You may but only after you meet the Director."

The conversation ended with that and after being officially welcomed to SHIELD the young agent followed the senior agent since he had been told to follow Agent Coulson for the first few days to get to know everything.

The two agents walked down the corridor and stopped in front of a door in the living area. From the other side of the door cursing and arguing could be heard. The younger agent stiffened since he didn't know what was on the other side of the door and when Coulson opened the door uninvited he relaxed slightly. On the other side was the dark haired young man they had met earlier and he was talking to what seemed to be a robot.

The younger agent stepped into the room and suddenly a voice said from out of nowhere: "Sir, you have guests."

The dark haired young man waved dismissively into the air and responded to the voice: "Thanks Jarvis but I already new that. Oh and Jarvis hadn't we said that you do not talk when somebody except me and Phil are in the room?"

"Yes we did but since you invited him into your room I thought that it was logical that you would trust him enough already."

"Whatever…" grumbled the young man and swirled suddenly around in his chair. "Hi Phil!"

Agent Coulson turned to the other agent and started introducing him: "Tony, this is Agent"

"Agent Clint Barton aka Hawkeye, eighteen years old. Hi, my name is Tony. I'm seventeen years old."

The archer, Clint Barton, said with suspicion clearly in his voice: "How do you know that and who exactly are you? Tony who?"

Tony had that carefree smile on his face when he said: "Just Tony. I have no last name or more precisely Fury took it from me." Coulson gave him a warning glance that promised he would bring out his Taser if Tony revealed more about this taboo topic. "Relax Phil I wasn't going to say more! To answer your other question Barton, I know your name without Phil's help here because I did a little research before you came."

At that Coulson groaned lightly and pinched his nose in annoyance but you could make out a small smile when he said: "You hacked into the computers again, didn't you?"

Tony didn't reply verbally and put instead a who-me-?-face on and then turned back to Barton.

"I just remembered I didn't welcome you properly. So: Welcome to this prison that consists of absolutely crazy members only."

"Tony!" said Coulson in warning and Tony just shrugged it of while Hawkeye analysed Tony's words.

"Why would you think of SHIELD as a prison?" asked Barton curiously after a few seconds.

"Because it is for me." A shrug again "You will understand soon enough while hanging around with me and Phil." He turned to Coulson "So what about our training session, still standing?"

"Of course can't have you slacking, can I."

Tony smirked at that dry response and stood up from his chair. "Okay then lets go."

When they reached the training area Coulson and Tony stepped into a boxing ring and started right away.

Clint was to be honest a bit impressed by Tony's performance. Tony was almost as good as Coulson and the new agent wouldn't have thought Tony being capable of keeping up with a SHIELD agent since he had seemed like the guy that build stuff instead of the fighting typ.

"Come on Barton! Don't just stand there, come up here and train with us."

Hawkeye shrugged but still went into the ring – he wanted to test the strength of this 'Tony' himself. Besides, he wanted to learn as much as possible about the other boy.

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A few weeks passed and Tony and Clint grew to be best friends. In their free time they would sometimes play video games or stroll through the HQ, but most of the times they switched between Clint teaching about using a bow and other various weapons - that Coulson hadn't taught Tony yet – and Tony inventing stuff in his room while talking to Clint and Phil too of course if he was with them.

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Tony was walking down one of the seemingly countless halls of SHIELD's HQ without a real destination. He was bored out of his mind! Stupid Eye Patch had sent Phil a 4 weeks and two days ago on some stupid undercover mission with no real time limit (not until enough usable information had been gathered) and yesterday he had sent Clint on a mission to eliminate a few targets that threatened the safety of the country, which left Tony alone - or as alone as you could get at a top secret facility where you were almost constantly surrounded with people doing one thing or another.

Even Jarvis' company hadn't helped to distract him and so he had made the decision to wander aimlessly around... Okay! He missed them, especially Phil who – since they had met – had never left Tony's side for more than three weeks! And Clint Barton, the Hawkeye had grown too on him. He sometimes even snuck something from the outside into the HQ to try to make him feel less like a prisoner in this (mostly) underground building. He had finally decided to return to his room when suddenly a familiar voice came from a few feet behind him: "Hey Tony, Wait up!"

The young genius spun around to the source of the voice and his eyes landed on the figure of his second favourite person, sprinting towards him. "Clint! You're back!"

"Ah and here you show again what a genius you really are: by stating the obvious." Clint said teasingly as he stopped in front of the younger teenager and grinned at him who returned his grin as well as the teasing remark with one of his own. "Oh shut up, bird brain!"

The two of them started walking back to Tony's room during which the archer told the young inventor about his mission and what he had seen outside like it had become tradition between Tony, Clint and Phil when Clint or Phil had taken part in a mission. That was Tony's only way of learning of what was going on outside SHIELD's HQ if one didn't count news and the Internet.

The other Agents they crossed paths with wisely choose to ignore their animated chatter since they were already used to it by now and some of them silently prayed that Barton's return didn't result in another prank of the two (that could strangely never be traced back to them) as it was common to happen after one of his easier missions.

But those who prayed would get disappointed today because once they had reached Tony's room, Hawkeye turned to his best friend and asked him: "Ready for another round in the ventilation shafts to scare some of the newer recruits?"

"I was beginning to think you would never ask! After you." Tony gestured at the ceiling and Clint jumped up, took off the lattice and lifted himself into the cramped space. Once inside Tony followed his lead and together they started their quest of terrifying the new recruits…

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_**Note:** Just for the record, I know that Hawkeye is younger in the Movie and in the Comics but here he is not for the sake of the plot!_

_**Note: I plan to let the poll go on till 1st February, 2013. After that I will see what the the chapters during the Avengers will look like.**_


	3. Chapter 2: An Offer and a Spider

**Chapter 2: An Offer and a Spider**

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Exactly three weeks, five hours and 23 minutes (not that Tony had been counting) after Clint had returned from his mission, Phil Coulson steps back into SHIELD's HQ. It takes an hour till he has been properly debriefed and another one to make a compromise with Director Fury about something and being dismissed afterwards.

Phil's first destination was not his own room but the one right next to it and he can only take one step into said room before a figure tackles him and tries to hug the life out of him. The Agent's first reaction is to stiffen but after realising, who it is that is burying his face into Phil's body, he relaxes and returns the hug with one of his own.

From a corner of the room someone speaks up and surprises the older Agent a bit, who had been completely concentrating on the boy in his arms instead of his surroundings (for this trainee error he mentally slaps himself, it's not something an experienced agent like himself is normally allowed to make).

"Sir, if I'm allowed to say it: you two look really cute like that."

Phil diverts his look from his ward to Barton who hides something behind his back and out of sight, and answers to Clint's comment in his deadpan voice (but with a twinkle in his eyes): "I would be careful of what I'm saying if I were you Agent Barton, because if you don't I will hit you with my Taser you and hide you bows where you will never find them."

That shuts Clint up, but his eyes are still smiling - but Phil can make out the hidden worry in his eyes as the flicker to Tony - as he swings himself out of the nest that Tony had made for him in the upper corner of the room when he had heard that the Hawk preferred higher places.

This short glimpse of worry in the younger agents eyes caused Coulson to take a closer look at the boy in his arms and slowly he loosened his hug and steered his hands on Tony's shoulders to signalize him that Phil wants to look him in the eyes. Reluctantly the young genius lets go of him and now that Phil can finally take a closer look he can see the embarrassment as well as the worry reflected on his face.

"Has something happened? Tony, you know you can tell me everything and it won't get out of this room if you don't want it to."

At first Tony didn't answer and Phil almost feared that he had read Tony wrong and he was only seeing what he hoped to see but then he saw that Tony was just struggling what he should say or more precisely _how_. After another few seconds ticked by the former Stark finally mumbled something that sounded like "missed you…" As soon as he has said that a metaphorical stone falls from Coulson's heart (he had feared the worst) and a small smile slips through his normally stoic mask and replies: "I missed you too."

The Agent steers Tony to the couch where they sit down and Hawkeye perches on the armrest. "Jarvis do you have a good movie for tonight?"

"Don't I ever?" comes the reply from the British sounding AI as he lets a list with different movies appear in front of the three. Tony has snapped out of his mood and starts bickering with Clint who wants to watch Robin Hood with Kevin Costner while Tony wants to watch Matrix with Keanu Reeves and Phil just listens to them while enjoying this routine that he had missed while being undercover. They had really grown into a small family and the news he had to share with Tony could wait till tomorrow – right now he just wanted to enjoy the time with his boys…

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The next day Phil approached Tony and Clint while Tony was crafting a few new throwing knives for himself (Tony had surprised everyone – even himself – with his natural talent with them).

"Tony, I have to speak with you."

Tony didn't stop working on his knives and only the waving hand signalled 'then start talking, I'm listening' and was the indicator that he had heard him.

"Director Fury wants to make you an offer and he would like it if you would think about it since it wouldn't just benefit SHIELD but you too."

That arouse Tony's interest and he laid the unfinished knife aside, turning around to Phil and even Clint looked curious.

"And what kind of offer would that be?"

Phil had slipped on his usual mask calmness on his face that he always used when it concerned something important as well as SHIELD related, as he replied: "He wants you to take the test that every trainee has to go through since he heard of your abilities and if you pass it, then you will have a choice."

Here he hesitated and so Tony asked: "What kind of choice?"

The older Agent took a deep breath and looked Tony deep into the eyes. "If you pass, you can choose if you want to go on missions as a partner to Clint – without becoming an official agent, which leaves you the chance to decline missions if you don't want to take them. In exchange for the work you are doing, you will get time outside the base but in company of me or Clint or even both of us."

The young genius stared at him and after a few seconds of silence, he asked slowly – as if afraid of the answer: "What kind of missions would that be?"

A look of sadness filled the agent's eyes as he let out a heavy sigh. "Mostly it would be assassinations. Fury sees your close combat specialties as a good way to balance out Clint long-range skills. … But you don't have to do this Tony" Phil took Tony's calloused hands into his own "Right now you still have the chance to turn away and not choose to have blood on your hands." Tony strengthened his hold on Phil's hands and if you looked closely, you could see how he was running all his options through his head in rapid speed and finally came to one conclusion.

He took a deep breath and told his only real friends his decision: "I don't have really much of a choice: if I ever want to get out of here again, then I have to accept it… Maybe that's better than just being here day for day and feel relatively useless, while everything that is truly important happens out there in the world."

Phil squeezed Tony's hands one last time before he let go, Clint moved closer and laid a hand on his best friend's shoulder as well as soon to be fellow assassin, while Phil said: "If that is your choice then we will help you where ever we can and don't hesitate to ask us, even if it's just our presence that you need. I will always stand by your side."

"Why?"

Phil smiled at Tony and ruffled his hair. "Because that's what family does for each other and you are like a little brother to me after all this time." Clint nodded in agreement and a few tears escaped Tony's eyes, which he immediately wiped away. "Thanks you two."

The two agents smiled at their youngest member and after a long moment in comfortable silence, Phil moved towards the door but then he remembered something and turned back around. "Ah, before I forget it: we should choose your cover name before I tell the Director of your choice. Any ideas?"

The boys thought for a moment until Clint's eyes fell on the dark blue knives that were Tony's specials that he had designed himself, so that they wouldn't reflect the light once it fell on them. "How about 'Blue Knives'?"

The other two thought about it and then Tony just shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

Phil nodded "Blue Knives it is then." And with these words he turned around and left the other two alone again.

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As expected Tony passed the test with flying colours and was allowed to go on missions with his best friend. Together they became a great team. Hawkeye and Blue Knives (but mostly just called Knives) went on several missions together and once Fury saw them as fit enough for it, he gave them a special mission: find and eliminate the threat 'Black Widow', a Russian spy and assassin.

They accepted it (Clint because he had no other choice but to follow the orders and Tony because he wouldn't let Clint go alone on what was supposed to be a dangerous mission), which they had tracked down her movements to an apartment in Berlin, Germany.

Hawkeye had positioned himself on a roof from where he could easily intercept in case their plan went wrong – he had already one of his new grabbling arrows, that Tony had designed for him, ready.

Knives had already crept into the apartment, keeping to the shadows and now all they had to do was wait for the famous Black Widow.

According to SHIELD's records the Black Widow was a young woman at Clint's age who had been tried to be a spy and an assassin since she had been a small child and was now running from the ones who had trained her. This made her unpredictable and because she was trying to get into the States an unknown factor that the board of director didn't want to risk and have her eliminated before she could even set foot on American soil.

"She is moving towards the apartment, Blue."  
"Understood. Don't forget our plan Hawkeye."

"Don't worry, I won't."

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As soon as she had stepped into the apartment, the feeling that she was being observed increased and her instincts told her that _something_ was slightly of. A hidden knife appeared in her hand as she slowly walked through the hall, controlling every room until she reached the living room where a hooded figure clad in midnight blue stepped out of the shadows. The hooded figure had their hands up in the air and Natasha wondered what another assassin wanted here if they weren't even trying to kill her on sight. As if reading her mind the figure opened his mouth to speak and the words that left it revealed the person to be a boy with a voice, which told her that he had a grasp on many languages that had left feather light traces behind: "I am not here to harm you. I just wanted to talk to you."

Natasha who still held the knife in her hand gestured for him to sit down and asked him in her own accented voice: "And what is it you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Maybe I should introduce myself first: I am called Blue Knives, but you can just call me Knives. My _Boss_ wants me to take you out since his bosses believe you to be a threat but my partner and I, we believe that it's not necessary to take such actions."

Now that had Natasha's full attention. She had heard of Blue Knives and Hawkeye, a whisper that ignited fear in most people who had heard some of their stories. But what had made her curious had not been the stories about them, instead it was how Knives had said Boss, with hidden contempt and besides that he was disobeying orders. "What would make you say that?"

A small smile spread over Knives' face as he said: "I believe that you don't wanted to make these kills that left red in your ledger, which is why you ran away. They are without a purpose that you choose and so Hawkeye and I thought to give you a choice: you can come with us and work for our government or we will give you a small head start before we take up our original mission again. Your choice."

The Black Widow's surprise was only shown through the slight widening of her eyes. It was the first time that someone had given her a choice and not just tried to control her to do something for them. "For whom do you work for exactly? There are only rumours about the agency you are supposed to work for and I want a bit more information before I make my choice."

Knives inclined his head. "Of course. The organization is called SHIELD. They are responsible for the safety of the US."

The hooded assassin stood slowly and turned towards the windows. "I will give you exactly one day to decide. If you want to join us, just wait here otherwise see that day as your head start."

And then he was gone through the windows, leaving a slightly perplexed Natasha behind.

* * *

Outside, on the roof Hawkeye stepped back from his look out post and turned around to his partner who was just landing on the roof. "That went better than expected."

Knives just smiled at him. "Lets go to our hotel room. We will have our answer tomorrow."

Clint nodded and together they disappeared into the darkness.

* * *

As promised, Knives and Hawkeye turned up at Black Widow's apartment, at the exact time as the night before. Natasha Romanov, glad in her Black Widow outfit greeted them, with a duffel bag in her hand.

Knives grinned as if he had just gotten a new toy and Hawkeye just smiled slightly. The first took of his hood and special sunglasses he always wore on missions and stuck out his hand towards Natasha. "I think a proper introduction is at order: the name's Tony aka Blue Knives and that" he jabbed a finger at Clint who waved "is Clint aka Hawkeye, my big bro. Nice to meet you."

Natasha stepped forward and shook his hand. "Natasha Romanov, Black Widow. Nice to meet you too." A ghost of smile appeared on her face and together they made their way to SHIELD's HQ where Fury was at first wary at their new addition and ordered Coulson to keep an eye on her, which was why Natasha had started hanging out with Tony and Clint even after their mission had ended. After a month of really getting to know each other, Tony suggested to take some of his out time that they had gathered to introduce Natasha to America and to give Tony the chance to finally going outside.

Tony acted like a little kid in a candy store as he stepped outside without a mission waiting for him and wore his casual clothes, which consisted of a washed-out jeans and a blue shirt combined with his favourite pair of sunglasses. Clint wore clothes similar to his mission suit, except that his weapons and the protection for them were missing. Phil was wearing his typical suit but instead of having the suit jacket buttoned-up he had left it open and was still radiating this feeling of total calmness and a bodyguard-like feeling. Meanwhile Natasha had chosen like Tony casual jeans and was wearing a dark blouse, her face revealing nothing but her eyes showed the excitement she was feeling.

They walked for hours through New York, visiting well known tourist spots as well as shops were Phil paid for things like new clothes for Natasha and Tony, and electronic parts for a few of Tony's projects. Every time Tony saw something that had changed during the four year he couldn't really leave HQ, his face lit up like Christmas had come early, which amused the others greatly as they tried to keep up with him.

After their big tour, they practically collapsed in a small restaurant, surrounded by their shopping bags, exhausted but happy.

It became something like a tradition to at least go once a month into town to forget what they did day for day.

Natasha had fitted right into their little family and through their time together away from HQ, they had the chance to let masks fall completely and be themselves.


	4. Chapter 3: Meet Happy Hogan

**Chapter 3: Meet Happy Hogan**

* * *

It was on one of their 'little trips into town' that Tony, Clint and Natasha met Happy Hogan for the first time.

They were without Phil that day because Fury had sent him on a longer mission again and so three took this opportunity to buy their Christmas presents that they wanted to give him. Tony had bought some parts to built a more compact and improved Taser, while Clint had bought him a Hawaii-shirt as a joke and Natasha a new book in which he could write into.

After they had done their shopping part, the crowd had somehow separated them.

Now Tony was trying to find them or his way back to HQ but to do that he first of all had to get out of the crowd, which was why he now tried to find a distinct building to get his bearing.

He turned into an alley to change streets but in the one he had chosen was a group of shady people. They were standing in a circle around someone and rotated in beating him up but their victim was at least trying not to go down without a fight. The man was in a boxing pose and had at least taken down one of these goons already before Tony had stepped into the alley.

One of the men kicked their victim in the back causing him to stumble to the ground.

"That's what you get for not losing that match as you had been told. Our boss lost a lot of money because of you." The man that had spoken raised a fist to hit the fallen man and Tony took the initiative. He cleared his throat to shift their attention to him. "Oi! What cha doing to that poor bloke?" Tony said in a perfectly imitated west Londoner accent – Tony loved it to play with accents.

The gangsters – which they definitely were – turned to him. "Go away boy, if you want to see the next day!"

A sly grin spread over his face as Tony mockingly said: "Oh? You sure about that mate?"

You could practically see the veins popping out on their foreheads and as they moved towards Tony, some of them cracked their knuckles others dragged their metal baseball bats over the ground – a way to intimidate that was definitely not working, especially since he had gotten this feeling where he knows that someone is watching him from the shadows.

The leader of that little group was standing now in front of him, staring down at him. "You asked for it kid." He raised his fist to hit him but before it could connect with Tony's face (which still had a smile on it) a small arrow pierced through the shoulder of the leader. He screamed like a butchered pig while his buddies looked around like headless chicken. Tony just grinned wider especially when he saw the boxer standing back up and directly taking on one of the guys closest to him.

Tony himself just sat back – well stood back – and watched, smug smile never leaving his face not even when some of the other thugs approached him he just sidestepped them and hit nerve spots that left them falling paralysed to the ground while the others were either taken down by an arrow in the leg or shocked by small electroshock darts.

Once the boxer had finished with the one guy and looked over to Tony who stood like a bastion of calm in a sea of unconscious bodies. The boxer gaped at him but quickly put himself together as he stepped closer to Tony. "Who…? How…?" stammered the man. Tony smiled softly at him as he held out his hand towards the man. "To answer your first question: the name's Tony, and secondly: I have my ways. Don't I guys?" Tony said seemingly to the air and then Clint and Natasha landed beside him (they had positioned themselves on the roof of one of the two old buildings that made the alley), startling the poor guy even more. "Uh… My name is Hogan, Happy Hogan. Thanks for your help." Clint exchanged a look with Tony and they both bursted out laughing while Natasha just shook her head at their antics with a smile tugging at the corner of her own lips. Meanwhile Happy Hogan looked slightly offended – he just didn't see what was so funny. Tony waved his hand as he tried to get himself back under control. "I'm… I'm sorry but was just: 'The name's Bond, James Bond' that it was just funny." The way how Tony imitated the quote made Happy smile too as he scratched his head. "Yeah, well now that you say it… But really: thanks for the help."

"No problem Hap. Couldn't just walk away when I saw that they were fighting in such an unfair way, especially not if it was because you didn't let yourself be controlled over your choices."

Happy looked surprised at that and instead of saying anything to that he asked instead: "Can I invite you to a coffee or something like that?" Tony exchanged a glance with the other two who still hadn't offered their names to Happy and finally said: "No thanks but we will walk you to a hospital where you can be checked over. You look a bit battered up and better safe than sorry. After that we have to part ways because our big brother is surely already back from his trip and searching for us."

"Oh, alright…" Just as Tony had said, they accompanied Happy to the nearest hospital but before they could walk away the boxer handed Tony a piece of paper with a mobile phone number. "Call whenever you need my help. I want to repay the favour." Tony just blinked in surprise. He was to dumbfounded to give a reply and the other two had to drag him away from the boxer. Natasha and Clint nodded in parting while Tony only weakly waved his hand in good-bye – no one outside of SHIELD had ever wanted to thank him for something (except for Edwin Jarvis, the old butler always had had kind words for Tony when he showed him his newest inventions to help the aging man).

* * *

Back in HQ Phil was really already waiting for them. "Had a nice trip into town?"

"Yeah. We met someone who needed help and he thanked us after we helped him. He was nice." Phil smiled slightly at his charge – he was happy that Tony could finally make connections to people outside from SHIELD even if they would only last for the day. "Well, you can tell me the details over a hot chocolate, what do three think?" His suggestion was made with beaming faces and together they made their way to Tony's room where they drank hot chocolate and ate cookies that Phil had bought on his way back from the mission.

* * *

On Christmas day, Phil was happily surprised to get the presents he did and had to hold back a loud laugh as he unpacked the Hawaii-shirt that Clint had bought him. He was delighted over the book Natasha gave him and the new Taser Tony had built for him was even tested that day on a few poor trainees that dared to piss off Phil on that day – to the great amusement of the others. Phil too had bought Clint, Natasha and Tony presents. Clint got a new string for his bow, Natasha a new gun and Tony got a pair of gloves that were perfect for when he used his throwing knives.

Together they had a wonderful Christmas and Tony even send Happy a message (that couldn't be traced back).

Years passed, and the group of four grew even closer over the years. Everything seemed fine, Tony had even halfway accepted never being a Stark again. Who needed a last name anyway if he had such great friends/ a great family?

But the happiness wasn't supposed to be constant…


	5. Chapter 4: Afghanistan

**Chapter 4: Afghanistan**

* * *

_Note: Tony is around 21 now._

* * *

"Tony, the Director wants to talk to you about a new mission." Phil Coulson told the young man when he stepped into his domain.

Tony whirled around in his chair and stood up, wiping his grease smeared hands off on a towel before following Phil out of the room. "Any idea what kind of mission, Phil?"

The older Agent didn't look at him when he answered, which alarmed Tony before he had even said a word. "I think it has something to do with the new lead SHIELD has finally found after all these years on the person behind the Car Crash." You could practically hear how Phil put capital letters on the words 'car crash' and Tony immediately new what he meant. But instead of showing openly that he was shocked by the announcement – he had given up on SHIELD ever finding out who it had been – and arched instead a sarcastic eyebrow (a trick he had grudgingly to confess he had learned from THE Spy himself). "Oh? SHIELD is getting slow on its old age, isn't it? I mean it took you what, six years since that happened?"  
Phil gave Tony a sideways glance that told him, that Phil wasn't fooled by Tony's display of nonchalance (of course he wasn't, that man could read Tony like an open book) but didn't comment it and instead gave in the code to open the door to Director Fury's bureau.

They stepped inside and were greeted by the sight of Fury's back since the other man was looking out of the window and onto the streets of New York City (the windows were one way, no one could look into the upper rooms but everyone in the building could see the people outside). Phil cleared his throat to catch the Director's attention – even if they all knew that this wasn't necessary (as if Fury wouldn't realise that they were there!) and the Director of SHIELD turned around. Nick Fury's face was, as always, grim and the one visible eye always gave Tony the feeling as if it wanted to bore a hole into his head.

Not being one for pleasantries Tony just stepped forward and said his typical greeting. "You wanted to see me Eye-Patch?" And now Tony's feeling was definitely justified – if that look would consist of laser beams then Tony would only be a pile of ash (if at all) but Tony just grinned being already used to the glare (and if that didn't tell him how many screws he had to have to loose then he didn't know what would…)

"Yes _Anthony_. I am sure Agent Coulson already told you that it concerned the Car Crash." 'How do they make it sound as if the use capital letters when speaking these two words? I have been here for six years and I am sure that I can't do that…' Unaware of Tony's musings, Fury continued without a pause. "We finally found a small lead to Obadiah Stane, I am sure you still remember him?" Tony nodded, of course he had known Obadiah – the man had been Howard's business partner after all. "I am not happy to admit it but Stane had done a really good job of covering his tracks and to my displeasure we still don't have enough evidence that he was it. This is where you come into it: your mission will be to infiltrate SI as Obadiah's new bodyguard and to hack his personal computer if you can to uncover any dirt you can find on him, understood?"

"Yes sir." Never say that Tony didn't learn any manners during his kind-of-Agent years.

"Good. Obadiah will set out to Afghanistan in a week to present a new weapon to the military and there you will join up with his team as the newbie. Agent Coulson will give you the details. Dismissed!"

* * *

Once back in his room, Tony collected the things he would need for this assignment while Phil told him the details. When the other Agent had finished, he said: "Be careful out there Tony. I am sure Obadiah will be suspicious of a new bodyguard and Fury denied my request to come along and I have a feeling that something will go wrong on this mission, so please be careful!"

Tony stopped his packing, turned around to face Phil and gave him a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry I will be careful. What could possibly happen?"

* * *

Tony woke up startled and before he could even formulate the question what had happened in his mind, his brain already delivered the answer:

_He had – as ordered – taken part in the presentation of Stane's new weapon and the old man had given him such a strange look as if he would recognize Tony – which shouldn't be possible since he hadn't had a public appearance since he officially died. Besides he didn't even look like his 15 year old self anymore – especially with the dark suit, gelled hair and the sunglasses hiding his calculating eyes._

_Or (something Tony really hope not) he had at least realize that Tony was supposed to spy on him._

_After the presentation Tony had been sitting in one of the convoys when they returned to base and on their way back they had been attacked._

_The soldiers had left the convoys to defend the one where Stane was sitting and Tony had gone out too since it was his mission play the role of Obadiah's bodyguard and he had been trained by Phil. Clint __**and**__ Natasha, so he could help. Help, ha! The only help he had given was for the attackers to get another target! A bomb had went off right in front off him and then everything had gone black…_

"So you are finally awake." Stated a voice from his left with a strange accent and Tony tried to sit up but a cable that lead from his chest to what looked like a car battery. He ripped the bandages of his chest and a strange looking device in his chest was revealed.

"You shouldn't try to move, if you lose that connection to the battery you are as good as dead."

"Wha…" croaked Tony, after trying to clear his throat he tried again. "What is that?"

Finally a man stepped into Tony's vision and helped him to sit up. "It is a magnet which is powered by a car battery to keep shards like these" He held up a small bottle with splinter like looking stuff in it. "from traveling any further towards your heart."

After looking at the shards for a few seconds and analysing where he was and what his situation was, he asked the man: "Who are you and where exactly are we? Besides the obvious answer that we are in a cave."

The man gave him a small smile and answered in his strange accent. "My name is Ho Yinsen. I am the one who saved your life and we are being held by a group that calls themselves the Ten Rings. So now that I answered your questions, would you be so kind to satisfy my curiosity? I was ordered to save your life but who are you that they would want you alive young man?

Tony looked at Yinsen warily – could he trust that man? Sure he had saved his life but still, it could be a trick to gain his trust… Wait a minute! Was he really getting just as paranoid as that stupid eye patch? "My name is Tony. Nice to meet you, Yinsen – even if it's under such circumstances. To be honest I'm not sure why they would want me alive… maybe because of my connection…" The last part Tony mumbled to himself but Yinsen still heard him and raised an eyebrow. 'Connection?'

Suddenly a man burst into the room and Yinsen grabbed Tony by his arm. "Do as I do." whispered Yinsen into Tony's ear who obeyed.

A round man walked towards them and exclaimed in a cherry ton and a booming voice: "Ah, it is an honour to finally meet the long thought dead: Tony Stark!"

Tony stiffened at the use of his once last name – no one was supposed to know it except for a few SHIELD Agents – and he saw Yinsen's eyes widen in surprise at that revelation but he kept his mouth shut.

The fat man babbled about how Tony would build weapons for them that the world had never seen – please, as if Tony would do that! – and Tony refused right away which lead to water torture.

He had heard of it – Phil, Clint and Natasha had told him about all possible torture devices – but there was a huge difference between being told about it and experiencing it.

After another of his torture sessions Tony and Yinsen sat together playing a game of dice talking about this and that when Yinsen suddenly asked a personal question.

"Do you have family Tony?"

This question provoked a smile on Tony's face. "Well not in blood anymore – but there are some crazy people that are like family to me. And what about you Yinsen?"

The doctor gave him a small smile and said: "Oh yes and when I get out I will see them again."

The smile dropped from Yinsen's face when he saw the look on Tony's face.

"You're lying. They are dead, aren't they? ...I'm sure your family would want you to live and not give up to join them. …If you don't know what you will do after we get out of here, you could come with me!"

This suggestion was not something Yinsen had expected from Tony since he had realized that Tony was very close mouthed about personal stuff and it showed that he trusted Yinsen so much that he would let him near his beloved ones. It touched Yinsen deeply and since he could somehow feel that Tony was right – his family would want him to live on – he agreed with tears in his eyes and a smile on his face.

"I would be honoured to meet them."

Tony's smile could have lightened the world so bright was it in that moment. "Great! But first of all: we have to get out of here and I know just the way how."

He explained Yinsen his idea about building an armour to open up a way for them but before they could build the armour they had to build something to replace the car battery powering the magnet.

Together they pretended to agree to the fat mans demands and used the given material to build a mini arc reactor and after that they worked on the rather primitive – but keeping in ones mind the situation – still advanced iron suit.

With the help of said suit they succeeded in escaping that hell of a cave…

* * *

Now they were free from the Ten Rings but walking in the hot midday sun in the desert without water.

"If we don't find an oasis or a village soon, it will mean nothing that we escaped since we will die of thirst." stated Yinsen when Tony's legs gave up on for a second and he landed on his knees in the sand while Yinsen was trying to help him stand up again.

"Well at least we will die free." Tony said with an exhausted grin when suddenly they heard a noise that sounded suspiciously like a chopper.

They looked at each other and dared to hope when the chopper flew over them and landed a few feet away from them.

A man in a black suit came running towards them and Tony stumbled towards him. He hugged the man with his last strength and Yinsen heard Tony mumble something that sounded like "Phil!" The man – Phil – rubbed Tony's back soothingly. "I'm so glad that you are alive. I would never have forgiven myself if you had died here just because Fury had demanded you to be on this mission! I won't leave your side ever again as long as it can be avoided and if Fury tries to say something about that I will tase him till kingdom come!"

After a few more seconds of hugging the life out of each other they reluctantly let the other go and Phil turned to Yinsen who stood a few steps away to give them some privacy.

Phil offered Yinsen his hand, who accepted it without hesitation. "Phil Coulson, Tony's big brother and you are?"

Yinsen smiled at the introduction – 'brother' not in blood but in bond. "Ho Yinsen, Tony's friend and personal physician."


	6. Chapter 5: Changing Everything

**Chapter 5: Changing everything**

* * *

**_Soo... the poll is over and _****_the result is... - drum roll please - NO SLASH! Thank you all for your votes and I will write for those who voted for Slash a story later with FrostIron that will take in a similar Universe but where Tony and Loki are together!_**

**_Enjoy!_**

* * *

Phil, Clint and Natasha were sitting around Tony in his workshop – the only room where no one could see or hear them according to Tony - watching the young man that had grown over the years on their hearts (even if Clint and Natasha would never admit that to anyone outside their circle out loud) and thought about the things Tony had just gone through before he could escape with what Tony called the Mark I.

Yinsen wasn't with them, Tony had asked Happy Hogan with whom he still had contact if he could let his friend stay with him till they found him something that wasn't paid by SHIELD and he had agreed without asking why Yinsen even needed a place to crash.

Tony himself was now working on an improved version of the metal suit that had gotten him out of the cave he had been held in. To anybody else it would seem like Tony was working like nothing ever happened but the three people that were like family to him could see how sometimes Tony's eyes would glaze over and he would have to shake himself free from wherever his thoughts had brought him to.

Minutes ticked by till Tony's hands stilled and he slowly looked up from his work but didn't make eye contact with Coulson or the other two, which alarmed them even more. Tony never backed down from a challenge and be it the one to look another person into the eyes!

"…Phil?"

"Yes Tony?"

"I… I think someone from SHIELD must have told Obadiahabout me. Th-The people that held me knew what I can do! They knew that I am Tony Stark, even though the rest of the world thinks that I died six years ago! Th-they couldn't- shouldn't have known!" Tony was rambling now and he turned his head so that he was starring at Coulson. You could see the fear, confusion and anger in these dark eyes and he had unconsciously place one hand on his arc reactor that kept him now living instead of his real heart. It hurt the older Agent to see Tony that way – Tony who was always all-smiles and stupid farce to cover his real feelings and genius towards everyone that had met him (but he still couldn't hide them from Coulson, Clint or Natasha – they knew him to well for that).

Tony carried on with his rambling and the more he said the more the anger in him grew. "What fucking good did it do that I was kept here 'to protect me' if guys out there know that I'm alive and want to use me to build them powerful weapons?! I can't do this shit anymore! Weapons with the name Stark shouldn't land in the hands of guys like them!" Tony took a deep breath and looked at his two big brothers and his big sister with determination they had never seen that clearly in his eyes before. "Phil, Clint, Natasha, will you help me with something… something really important?"

The three spoken to exchanged looks and Clint was the one who spoke up first. "What do you need us to do?"

Tony gave them a dark smirk and said: "I want to show the whole world how alive and kicking I really am and take Howard's company back since it's my rightful inheritance. And I want you to help me accomplish that. Phil you could forge papers for me to give me a back round for the years I was 'dead'. Clint if you would I would like you to play my bodyguard 'Iron Man' the first few days - with the help of the suit to hide that I'm normally in that suit. And Natasha I would like you to have an eye on someone I have chosen to help me with the company. I had already contact with her and she seems pretty bright but till I'm sure she won't stab me in the back I want you to be my shadow."

"You had contact with an outsider?!" asked Coulson worried.

"Yes but I didn't tell her anything about me. I already checked her and she is perfect for the job of an assistant."

"How long have you planed for this?"

"The thing with Clint playing bodyguard and you my shadow? Just now. The idea to 'return to the living' was something I had planned as soon as Fury told me I would engineer stuff for them and would be protected by them. It felt too much like a prison to life in forever so I planned to leave SHIELD eventually but Phil knew that, didn't you?"

Coulson ignored the looks Clint and Natasha were giving him and replied instead: "I had my suspicions. I know that you would love to be free from SHIELD."

"But you never told SHIELD, why?"

Coulson scoffed "As if I would ever grass up on you to Fury since you are my little brother – not in blood but still. And family sticks together, which is why I will help you with your plan too."

A smile grew on Tony's face that threatened to split it into two and he looked at his best friends to hear their answers.

"I'm in since that means I get to try your new invention. Besides the four of us are family."

"You can count on me too младший брат*." Said Natasha in agreement. "But what will we tell Fury about Clint and me being absent? He _is_ the Director of SHIELD after all. He will find out about it eventually."

"No he won't! I have everything planed perfectly. Jarvis!"

"Right away sir."

Holograms lightened up and Tony explained his plan in detail to his three 'co-conspirators' as you could call them since they went behind SHIELD's back.

* * *

The world – like expected – was shocked to find out that _the_ Anthony 'Tony' Edward Stark was still alive but DNA couldn't lie and so the press jumped at these news like hungry sharks that had smelled blood.

After a small fight for Stark Industries - which was won with the help of Tony's charm and secretly Coulson's ability to handle any kind of paper work – Tony accomplished it to regain the company as it had been stated in Howard's testament that he was supposed to inherit and no one could say anything against that. As soon as it was his, he began to change a few things like stopping the production of weapons, in their stead increasing medical and energy research, as well as firing Obadiah Stane (since he gave Tony the creeps and he had found evidence that Stane had something to do with Afghanistan). _Sadly_ Obadiah's plane crashed on his way to his new home in west America (a feat accomplished by Natasha's sabotage) and he _coincidentally_ had been accompanied by the SHIELD Agent that had been the one to inform Obadiah of Tony's presence in SHIELD (he had wanted to collect the money that Obadiah had promised him for the information).

Tony also hired a young woman around his age named Virginia 'Pepper' Potts who became his assistant and he contacted Happy Hogan who surprisingly happily agreed to become Tony's boxing trainer as well as driver.

Some old men who had a bit to say in the future of Stark Industries protested against the changes at first but quickly quieted down when they realised that they could be fired any second too.

On Tony's side was right at the beginning a figure that became to be known as Iron Man, Tony Stark's bodyguard – who was in reality Hawkeye – in the world. Later Tony accomplished it to program the suit so that Jarvis could move it around even if no one was using it and also using Iron Man's speech pattern so that no one would get suspicious.

Sometimes Tony would slip into the suit and fly to places where his company's weapons had landed where they weren't supposed to be and also destroyed the whole terrorist organization that had kidnapped him. This was all Tony's doing but to the world it seemed like Iron Man did it which was exactly as Tony had planned it. After a few weeks of Hawkeye playing Iron Man when it was necessary the whole world – including SHIELD – thought that Tony and Iron Man were two separated identities.

Talking of SHIELD: Fury had been extremely pissed when Tony had told him that he had enough off being some kind of puppet to SHIELD who built their tech and sometimes took on the part of one of their assassins. When Fury had brought out the argument that he was part off SHIELD Tony told him straight in the face that he had never been an official agent and had never signed some kind off contract that tied him to SHIELD. After that Tony had walked straight out of Fury's office and out off SHIELD and right into the next chapter off his life…

* * *

* младший брат means little brother in Russian, Natasha's nickname for Tony (her way of showing her sisterly affection for him)


	7. Chapter 6: On the steps of Death's door?

**Chapter 6: On the steps of Death's door?**

* * *

_**Warning:**__** contains fluff scene (Or at least my attempt at it)! Not meant as Slash, repeat: not meant as Slash!**_

_**PLEASE READ!: I slightly rewrote Chapter 4 (Afghanistan) and Chapter 5 (Changing Everything)! I would really appreciate it if you would read them again and give me a feedback!  
**_

_**So and now: Enjoy! ^_^**_

* * *

Tony sat in his new tower in New York City, the first place he could call his. But it was not complete without his family and only Yinsen's company was keeping him from storming into SHIELD's HQ to drag Phil, Clint and Natasha to the tower and give them their rooms – and fuck Fury!

But his personal physician took over the role to play something like an adviser, together with Jarvis and Pepper, and hindered him from doing incredible stupid things.

Speaking of the Eye Patch: after Tony had reintroduced himself to the world, the Director of SHIELD had visited him to ask him if his bodyguard – Iron Man – would like to join, what he called the Avengers Initiative in the future. Tony had said he would talk with Iron Man about it (or more precisely, _he_ would think about it) and Fury had even surprised him by asking him to become an official consultant for SHIELD. His first thoughts had been along the line of 'Oh _now_ you're asking?' and had said he would later make a decision.

But back to the topic of Phil, Clint and Natasha: despite his family still working for SHIELD they upheld their tradition to at least meet once a month to walk through the town and enjoying each other's company. Sometimes they would even come to the tower and they would do a sleepover with movies and unhealthy food.

Until one day Tony wasn't there…

* * *

"Tony? Where are you?" shouted Clint through the floor getting no answer he turned to the ever-present AI. "Jarvis, do you know where Tony is?" "I am deeply sorry, but sir ordered me not to tell you of his current position in the building." Jarvis answer made the three smile – even though he couldn't tell where Tony was exactly, he had at least told them that he was in the Tower and so Natasha searched on the balcony, Clint in the bedroom and Phil in the workshop. They found no one.

"Maybe he is with Yinsen in the medical area?" Natasha suggested as the met up in the living room. "Then why are we still standing here? Let's go and look! Tony has never missed one of our meetings without at least saying something beforehand!"

Together they made their way to Yinsen's domain, once there they barged in through the door surprising a half-clad Tony and Yinsen who was studying some information on a medical record. Tony stiffened and when he realised who it was, tried to cover the area around his arc reactor. But he had been to slow. The group of three marched forward and Phil grabbed Tony's arms firm but not painfully and uncovered the device that held their fourth family member alive. Spreading from the arc reactor were small black crisscross lines.

"What is that?" Phil demanded to know. Tony bowed his head and avoided their staring.

"You should tell them Tony. They have a right to know." Yinsen said gently to which Tony just nodded. "I know…"

Slowly he raised his head and his eyes meet Phil's, the pain and sadness in them causes Phil to take a deep breath. "I… I am dying."

This sentence caused the already heavy atmosphere in the room to double so that you could cut it with a knife if you tried. Natasha was the first to ask of the three. "What do you mean?!"

In an unconscious move Tony raises his hand to the arc reactor and explained: "You know that the arc reactor needs palladium to work and this is also poisoning me… I am so sorry!" A tear escaped his normally calm face; Phil then took a step forward and hugged him. "There is nothing to be sorry for – except that you could have told us. We will find a way to solve this." Tony grabbed the older man's suit in a death grip as he mumbled into the jacket with a cracked voice: "I've been looking for a suitable replacement for palladium. I've tried every combination, every permutation of every known element. None of them can replace the palladium core." He laughed a broken laugh "The thing that is keeping me alive is killing me slowly…"

"Don't say that! What has become of the cocky little brother that always crawled through the air duct systems to terrify the new recruits and piss of Fury?!" Clint said harshly as he stepped closer towards Tony who still held onto Phil. "He is gone into vacation." came the weak reply. Now Natasha took the initiative and grabbed him at the shoulder closest to her to get his full attention. "Maybe we can find something at SHIELD. You told us that Howard had been a member of SHIELD and there is a possibility that we can find something to help you, младший брат!"

Tony looked up at the red head and gave a weak smile. "Tasha… thanks."

"Well since this is sorted out, we can go to work." Phil said in a business-like tone which made the others smile and nod. "I can try to give Tony something that would buy you all a bit more time for your search but it isn't a permanent solution." suggested Yinsen.

"That would be appreciated Doctor. Natasha and Clint, you two will try to search the old fashioned way through SHIELD for clues concerning thing from Howard Stark, Tony you will hack SHIELD as low profiled as you can and I will search in old files." Phil divided the tasks and everyone nodded in acceptance. Natasha and Clint immediately left to go after their assigned task, shooting one last reassuring glance to Tony who now looked a bit more hopeful than before. Yinsen turned to his medical equipment and worked on the temporary solution while Tony and Phil left together the room. "You could have told us you know." Phil said as they walked to Tony's workshop from where he would hack SHIELD together with Jarvis' help. Tony raised his hand and ran it through his already dishevelled hair. "I didn't want you to worry about me. You are my family and I didn't want to force you to watch me slowly dying." Phil stopped in his track, which Tony did then too and looked with an unreadable expression at his charge. "Tony… I told you when you wanted to 'return to the living' that we would always be there for you and that includes staying by your side in times like these. I would never abandon you and I know Clint and Natasha would agree with me and I am sure you would do the same for us if the roles were reversed." "Of course!" "Then why didn't you tell us?!" cried Phil, throwing away his calm mask and letting his concern and sadness slip through. Tony let his head hang down – he understood that he should have told them, it wasn't his decision to make if they should stand by his side or if they should stay away, he knew that! "I'm sorry." Phil again stepped forward and hugged Tony but this time he buried his face in the hair of the younger man. "Never do this again, promise me!" "I promise." "Good. Now lets get to work." And they let each other go exchanging one last look of understanding and parted their ways – Tony into his lab and Phil to SHIELD's HQ.

* * *

"We found something!" exclaimed an excited Clint with Natasha in tow. He carried a heavy looking box into the living room of the tower where Phil, Yinsen and Tony were looking through different SHIELD files. The three looked up at the exclamation and hope was visible in their faces. They hadn't found anything of value in the SHIELD files till now and even with the temporary solution of Yinsen, Tony slowly got worse. Clint put down the box on the wooden coffee table while Natasha perched herself on the arm of the couch. "What is in it?" asked Tony and a grin spread over his big brother's face. "Stuff from Howard. Maybe there is something in there that can help us!"

Together they worked through the 'stuff' – research concerning various things but none of them important to their situation and some old film reels. Phil digged out an old movie projector and they all sat down around Tony while it played.

At first it just seemed like unnecessary talking in it the part came where suddenly Howard began to speak to Tony.

"Tony. You are too you young to understand this right now so I thought I would put it on film for you. I built this for you. And someday you will realise that it represent a whole lot more than just peoples inventions. It represents my life's work. This is the key to the future. I'm limited by the technology of my time. But one day you will figure this out. And when you do, you will change the world. What is and always will be, my greatest creation… is you!"

The film finished and they all sat in silence, assessing Tony's reaction who seemed to be shocked by his father's words. Then without some kind of warning he jumped out of his seat and strut out of the room. The others hurried to follow him fearing he would lock himself in his lab or something of the kind but instead of walking towards the workshop he aimed for the elevator. "Tony! Where are you going?"

"To fetch the solution!" They exchanged baffled expressions and followed him to the floor where his office was. Pepper gave the group a strange look and followed them into Tony's office where the genius was taking apart the old model of the Stark Expo. Clint, Natasha and Phil realised what he wanted to do and helped him. Together they had it in four parts relatively quick and Yinsen and Pepper helped them to carry the parts to Tony's lab. After that was done, Pepper left them knowing that this close group wouldn't want her to be there right now even if they were slowly integrating her into their little family.

Once alone they rebuilt the model and Tony asked Jarvis to make a holographic projection out of it.

He disposed of some parts till he was satisfied and put it together, revealing a rediscovered element. "The proposed element should serve as a suitable replacement for the palladium sir." stated Jarvis. A wide grin spread over everyone's face as they heard the good news. "Excellent!" "But it is impossible to synthesise." "Uhuh." was all Tony had to say to that and was already up and moving around. "Get ready for major remodelling fellas!" The others stared at Tony as he started to pound down the walls with a heavy hammer. "Has he finally lost his mind?" whispered Clint to Natasha who just punched him on the arm. Fascinated they watched as Tony 'remodelled' his whole workshop, revealing the cables in the walls and constructing a strange device. He shooed them out of the room as he switched on the laser and directed the beam at the prepared piece of metal while Clint, Natasha, Phil and Yinsen stood in front of the glass doors and continued to watch in awe.

"Congratulations sir. You created a new element." stated Jarvis as Tony picked up the finished core replacement and was immediately surrounded by his family. "Knew you could do it!" Clint patted Tony on the back; Natasha and Yinsen smiled at him and Phil looked extremely proud and ruffled Tony's hair. "Good job!"

After Jarvis had analysed the new element and deemed it useable, Tony replaced the arc reactor with a newer model, which had the new element as a core.

They threw a small party after that to celebrate their success and the fact that SHIELD hadn't found out about their stealing classified things. Even if Fury would find out one day and fire the three SHIELD Agents, they would always have a place at Tony's side who would just put them on his pay role and would welcome them with open arms if they decided to live with him since he had already prepared rooms for them for when that day would come.


	8. Chapter 7: All for One, One for All

**Chapter 7: All for One, One for All**

* * *

This chapter is my longest so far! Yay!  
BUT (yes there is a but) it is only that long because it mostly sums up the movie and I'm sure you will recognize most of the dialogues since I quoted them mostly, but I also changed a few things!  
I hope it won't bore you with this chapter and hope you enjoy it! ^_^

* * *

Natasha was at work when the phone call came. She saw the man go pale as Phil got him to give her the phone and had to smirk internally while she was simultaneously worried why he would disturb her interrogation. "We need you to come in" were Phil's first words, which made the feeling she had even worse, she wanted to ask what had happened but out loud she said to Phil over the phone "Are you kidding? I'm working." His next words didn't help either: "This takes precedence." "I'm in the middle of an interrogation. This moron is giving me everything." 'What has happened?' The Russian exchanged words of "I don't give everything." to his lackeys and Natasha gave him a look of that's-my-boss-I'm-talking-to-so-shut-up (she really had spent to much time with Tony and Clint). "Look you can't pull me out of this right now." 'If it isn't important and you made me worry for nothing…' Phil's stern "Natasha…" let her hold her breath for a moment. "Clint's been compromised." These three words let her see red for a moment and she said seriously "Let me put you on hold." Immediately she turned her attention back to the three Russians who were staring at her and she kicked their asses pretty fast and let the leader hanging upside down, while walking away. "Where is he now?"

"We don't know."

"But he's alive?"

"We think so. I'll brief you on everything when you get back."

"Does Tony know?"

"…Not yet. I'll tell him and you are needed to talk to the _big guy_ before you come back."

Natasha stopped in her tracks and swore in Russian – Tony would kick her ass for being the first one to make contact with Banner (he had been like a fan boy about the Doctor and had wanted to talk to him soon to invite him into the Tower since he believed that the man needed a permanent home instead of being on the run from the military). She just hoped that it would end well…

* * *

Tony had just connected the last part to the prototype of the arc reactor that would power his tower (an improvement he had wanted to make for quite some time) when Phil turned up in the tower. He had a strange expression on his face that set Tony on edge and the fact that he held out an electronic folder towards him just deepened his bad feeling. "Fury wants you to look this over as soon as possible." Tony took the folder and wanted to open it when Phil laid a hand on it. "But before you do that, there is something that I have to tell you… Clint has been compromised." The glass with the coke he had been holding (he didn't drink alcohol, he didn't like the feeling of not being in control of his actions – even if his mouth sometimes ran away from him despite this) fell to the ground where it shattered into million little pieces, spilling the content on the expensive floor.

Phil guided him towards the nearest seat – careful as not to step on the shards of glass – were they sat down and he explained everything that had happened. A look of determination entered Tony's face just like the time when he had decided to return to the living. "Alright, I have work to do!" He stood up and let Jarvis project the contents of the electronic folder onto the holographic screens and began to study everything in it. Phil sighed at the sight and just hoped that Tony would at least sleep a bit this night – which was highly unlikely even without what was coming, the nightmares from Afghanistan still haunted his youngest charge most of the time – and turned towards the elevator to find Yinsen and tell him of the current situation to alarm him of the high possibility of injuries in the near future.

* * *

The next day everyone gathered on the Helicarrier – that Tony had designed for SHIELD after Fury's nagging – well everyone except for Tony. Phil got the chance to live out his inner fan boy for a moment in the presence of Captain America and maybe Natasha rescued his dignity when the two arrived on the Helicarrier with her presence and the words "They need you on the bridge. They're starting the face-trace" even if he technically wasn't really needed for that. But he understood her cue and excused himself. Natasha then tried herself on a bit of small talk with the Captain – analysing him in the process since she wanted to know what kind of person he really is before letting him anywhere near Tony (who was a bit touchy on the topic of 'Captain America' because of Howard's influence even if he tried his best for Phil not to). Fury had given her the file on him but she still like to do this personally since it concerned her младший брат and because she had heard that Fury had not given the Captain Tony's real file but the official one that stated that Tony was a playboy and didn't really care for others since he returned from his 'coma'. He turned out to be nice but didn't seemed to be the type to question a person's behaviour and the face he made when she mentioned Phil's trading cards had been priceless (she would have to talk to Tony to get a picture of it from one of the security cameras once this was dealt with).

When Rogers and Banner exchanged a few words she tried to get into contact with Tony to see where he was but instead got the word that they were ready to go and turned towards the two man to tell them to come inside.

* * *

Natasha smiled to herself when she saw Phil talking to Rogers about signing his trading cards. "Took me a couple of years to collect them all." 'Yes and you only got the last ones because Tony pulled some strings to give them to you on you latest birthday.' Natasha thought, while trying to contain the grin that wanted to spread on her face when she saw Phil's proud face about the fact that his cards were "Near mint."

Then finally a face match to Loki's was found and they made their way to Stuttgart in Germany.

There she observed the fight between Loki and Rogers while training the weapons of the Quinjet and thinking 'Where is Tony?'

As if to answer her question, AC/DC's Shoot to Thrill blared through the speakers of the Quinjet and Tony's – thanks to the armour – distorted voice reached her ear. "Agent Romanov. You miss me?"

She just grinned in answer even though he couldn't see it and watched as Iron Man rammed Loki into the ground.

"Make your move, Reindeer Games." Iron Man said while training all his weapons at the god and the Captain came to stand beside him.

Loki raised his armed slowly and his armour vanished – an obvious sign that he surrendered (a bit to easy for her taste and she was sure that Tony was thinking along the same lines).

On the flight back to the Helicarrier, Rogers spoke out what everyone was thinking, "I don't like it."

He and Iron Man exchanged a few words before Rogers finally said, "Fury didn't tell me he was calling you in." Natasha was sure that she would see a look of annoyance on Tony's face if she had been able to see it (but since she was flying the Quinjet and Tony had his helmet on, that wasn't possible) as he said: "Yeah, there's a lot of things Fury doesn't tell you."

Before Rogers could reply anything, thunder started rumbling in the sky. Natasha asked, "Where's this coming from?" since there shouldn't be any thunder coming down at this area according to the computers and Iron Man turned towards their prisoner as if he had the answer – which he seemed to have since he flinched at the sound.

The Captain asked if he was scared and at his reply of being "not overly fond of what follows" Iron Man seemed to have catched up on Loki's train of thought but before he could say anything, something landed on the roof of their Quinjet.

Iron Man opened the hatch and suddenly a blond haired man – Thor – entered their plane and threw him back with his hammer. Thor grabbed Loki and disappeared into the night. Iron Man followed instantly – not caring that Rogers wanted to make a plan at a time like this as if actions weren't more important right now than words. He just throw a "I have a plan: Attack!" at the Captain before diving after the two gods and Natasha agreed silently with him (not just because he was her little brother but because he was right).

* * *

Tony had tried to tell the thunder god that they were trying to find the Tesseract too but Thor wasn't listing to him and instead attacked him with lighting – the attack dwindled into a whole battle that destroy a great deal of the forest they had landed in till the Captain came and they finally stopped.

During the whole fight-for-Loki, the dark haired god hadn't escaped which only fuelled Tony's suspicions that there was a bigger plan in motion than they were seeing now.

* * *

Back on the Helicarrier, Loki was escorted to a cell that had not been designed for a god but had to work for now and meanwhile Iron Man stayed behind in the Quinjet where he shut down the cameras and changed out of the suit and into clothes Phil had brought him (his Blue Knives combo) when they had landed. Jarvis took over the armour that he had secretly stored on-board (with Phil's help) and stored the damaged one in his personal room that he had on the Helicarrier. Once outside of his room, he was greeted by the sight of Phil who looked him over to make sure he hadn't received any fatal injuries in his fight with the thunder god. Together they made their way to the bridge – the armour trailing after them – and there they met the rest of people that were supposed to make up the "Avengers Initiative" – minus Clint.

Tony and Phil were just in time to Banner's question of "What do they need Iridium for?" to which Tony immediately answered, "It's a stabilising agent." He then went into detail while taking in every detail on the bridge; ignoring the irritated look Maria gave him as he moved to Fury's place. For a moment he gave in to the urge of giving orders like on a real ship, enjoying the puzzled looks of the other Agents and then outing Jim (an Agent he had meet once before leaving SHIELD) who was playing Galaga – all that was just a way for him to cope with Clint's current situation. He then stared at the screens, covering one eye and then asked Maria "How does Eye Patch see these?" and got an emotionless "He turns." Tony played around with the screens and planted a small device that would make it easier for Jarvis to hack into the SHIELD database – all the while explaining the use of the Iridium to the others.

When he turned back he saw the looks Phil and Natasha were giving him that clearly stated that they knew what he was doing, so he turned towards Maria as he answered her question of when he became an expert on thermonuclear astrophysics, with a simple "Last night." and gave her look that stated you-shouldn't-be-surprised-by-that. He continued talking till Rogers interrupted him and Banner answered the question, after that Tony exchanged a few words concerning the current topic with Banner and finishing it with "Finally, someone who speaks English!" completely ignoring Rogers muttered, "Is that what just happened?" and shaking Banner's hand.

"It's good to meet you, Dr Banner. Your work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster." The words seemed to make the Doctor uncomfortable - Tony saw Phil shaking his head in disbelief – and Banner just said: "Thanks."

Nick Fury interrupted the scene by addressing Tony to inform him that, "Dr Banner is only here to track the cube." 'Yeah, as if!' "I was hoping you might join him." 'That is why I am here like this and not in my armour right now, stupid Eye Patch…' Tony thought sullenly.

Now Rogers joined the conversation again with the comment of, "Let's start with that stick of his. It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a Hydra weapon."

Fury turned to Rogers and replied: "I don't know about that, but it is powered by the cube. And I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys." Thor looked puzzled at the reference and it followed a short exchange between him and Rogers of who-understands-a-simple-reference.

After that Tony simply left the room with Banner to the lab where they would use different gadgets to locate the Tesseract – the Iron Man armour following them without a word.

* * *

Despite the whole situation with Loki and a mind controlled Clint, Tony couldn't deny that he had fun working together Banner while calibrating the machines. He even got the chance to invite the Doctor to his Tower even if he denied with his excuse of "kind of broke Harlem" the last time he had been in New York. Meanwhile he tested Banner slightly to see how far he could get before the other man would say anything – not in the slightest afraid of the Doctor hulking out since the man had to have control otherwise he wouldn't have come even with SHIELD's 'invitation'.

But of course Rogers had to interrupt Tony in his 'testing' and was immediately scolded by the blond haired man as if he was earnestly trying to 'threatening the safety of everyone on this ship'! _Please_, he knew most of the men and women on board and despite his resentment towards some of them, he wouldn't endanger them on purpose!

Instead of mentioning that he just turned to Banner and declared, "You're tip-toeing, big man. You need to strut!" and again he was getting a slating from the Captain! But now he gave the other man something to think about by asking him questions about Fury's motives – because why didn't Fury call them in sooner (or at least Tony)? He was only rewarded with a "You think Fury's hiding something?" Was that man so dense? Of course Fury was hiding something: he was 'the' spy, even his secret have secrets! The last part he said out loud and again included Dr Banner into the conversation.

The discussion went a bit on until Tony had enough of Rogers and kicked him out with the words "Of the people in this room, which one is, A - wearing a spangly outfit, and B - not of use?" and he and Dr Banner were finally left alone again. Tony was really trying to give the guy a chance (for Phil) but the man was grating at his nerves with his demeanour and Tony just couldn't help it but to act like an ass towards the other man…

* * *

Tony complained about Steve to Banner to which the Doctor just replied that Rogers was kinda right about the fact that Loki was in the lead right now and Tony just couldn't stop himself from saying that he would be there when the situation would blow up in Loki's face, earning himself a strange look from the other man (Banner shifted his gaze between Tony and the Iron Man armour that Jarvis was still controlling. But instead of speaking what was on his mind, Banner just said that he would read all about it.

"Or you might just suit up with the others." Tony countered and Banner just started on how he didn't have a suit of armour but was an exposed nerve and this Tony took as his cue to tell the Doctor what he thought the Hulk really was: a good guy. To convince him, he even showed him his arc reactor in his chest (something he had only done in the presence of a selected few), telling him a bit about it and thus seemingly confirming the other man's suspicions about Tony being Iron Man (the man _is_ a genius after all).

* * *

After his enlightening talk with Bruce (Banner had offered him to address him with his firstname), Tony excused himself for a bit to talk to Loki.

He sneaked up on the god who was sitting in the middle of his prison cell in a position that look like he was meditating and so he just said: "What have you done to Clint?" Tony enjoyed it that the god hadn't realised his presence before he had spoken (the only indicator of this fact being the slight tensing in his posture). The god opened his eyes and blue-green eyes stared into Tony's brown ones.

"Ah, the brother in bond of the hawk." Loki said as he stood up instead of answering Tony's question. "Barton told me about you: a young man that wears all kinds of masks – even metal ones - and only his inner circle is allowed to see behind them. A man that has killed many people so that he could go back, out into the world and who made himself a name while doing so. Blue Knives, was it?"

"That's in the past. I'm interested in the present and the future." Tony said evenly as if it wasn't bothering him that this god in front of him might know everything about him that Clint knew (which would mean _**everything!**_).

Loki inclined his head in acceptance of Tony's reply, giving him a curious look while murmuring, "An interesting answer…"

They stared each other into the eyes until Tony let out a sigh and turned to leave, he would leave the real interrogation to Tasha who was better at it than him (he had just wanted to at least _**try**_). He was almost out of the door when Loki's voice cut through the silence that had settled. "You were his supreme loyalty, you know - before I came. You even came before SHIELD." That made Tony turn back around, only to be met with a cruel smile as Loki continued, "I will enjoy the sight of him killing you and then I will free him long enough so that he can see what he has done!" Tony's face stayed emotionless as Loki said these words – only the slight twitching of his fingers for a knife betraying what he wanted to do – instead he tried to concentrate on Loki's expression: the cruel smirk, the cold blue eyes… had his eyes been that blue before?

Loki continued on how he would enjoy the scenario but Tony had stopped listening and just left the room, exchanging a look with Natasha who had waited for him to come out. He shook his head slightly and returned to Bruce, leaving Natasha to get Loki to reveal his plan.

* * *

Nick Fury was really getting slow in his old age since he had taken so long to discover that there was a security breach in his database but he made up for it with his (dramatic) entrance (= coat flowing after him). "What are you doing, Anthony?"

Tony stared evenly into Fury's one eye as he said in a clearly fake light tone: "Uh, kind of been wondering the same thing about you, _Eye Patch_."

"You're supposed to be locating the Tesseract!" Fury deflected angrily and Banner told him that, in fact, they were already doing so.

Meanwhile Tony looked through the data Jarvis had found, "Yeah, you'll get your cube back. No muss, no fuss. …What is 'Phase 2'?"

Suddenly Rogers was in the room, dropping a weapon on a table. "Phase 2 is SHIELD uses the Cube to make weapons! Sorry, the computer was moving a little slow for me." The last part was said towards Tony, while Fury turned his attention towards Rogers.

"Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract, this does not mean that we... "

"I'm sorry, _Nick_!" Tony interrupted, turning a monitor around with the schematics of a rocket. "What were you lying?"

Steve expressed his disappointment to Fury and then Natasha, Thor and Phil joined them in the lab. A big argument began between the group until Rogers' focus shifted from the Director to Tony.

"Big man with a bodyguard in a suit of armour. Take that away, what are you?"

"Genius, billionaire, philanthropist." What he didn't say but thought 'as well as an assassin, Iron Man and little brother'

Rogers took a step closer so that they were standing face to face now and said with disgust to Tony: "I know guys with none of that worth ten of you. I've seen the footage. The only thing your bodyguard really fights for is for your purpose. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you."

The accusation made Tony angry and he felt the urge to punch the man into the face. 'What does this guy think he knows?! He hasn't even read my real file and just insults me even though he doesn't know _me_!' He felt Phil shifting slightly closer in silent support – his worship for Captain America clearly losing against his feeling for his charge –Tony taking encouragement from the action said out loud to the Captain: "I think I would just cut the wire."

"Always a way out... You know, you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be some kind of hero."

Tony saw almost red at the statement and was barely refraining himself from really punching the man and instead lashed out with words to unwind a bit of the anger in another way.

"A hero? Like you? You're a lab rat, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle!"

Rogers wanted to retort something but then Fury's words of, "Doctor Banner, put down the sceptre." startled them all – even Bruce himself - and the argument with Rogers was for now forgotten. Before anything else could be said, the machines beeped to indicated that they had located the Tesseract.

* * *

An explosion made them all lose ground and everything turned into a kind of blur of action for Tony.

He remembered that he had directed Jarvis in repairing the damaged rotor, connecting the correct wires so that it would work again without much trouble.

The Captain was having his back the whole time till Rogers slipped and almost fell from the Helicarrier, which was why Tony had to use his ever present (but well hidden) knives on the intruders to give the other man the time to get ground back under his feet again.

Tony helped Rogers the last part back up and escaped being shot by a hair's breadth thanks to Jarvis who had directed the armour right into the guy that had trained his weapon on Tony.

After that he and Rogers had returned to the bridge (Jarvis brought the armour to Tony's room for repairs), once there they learned of Phil's death at Loki's hands but as soon as Tony had seen the bloodied cards, he had realised that the Director too was playing a game with them and not just Loki. So he grabbed the cards – pocketing them – and left the room to look for Natasha and thus Clint whom she had knocked some sense back into. He found them and then Tony together with Natasha made it clear to Clint that it hadn't been his fault! "The actions you undertook while under Loki's control were not your fault, understood?" Clint had nodded but Tony and Natasha had seen the doubt in his eyes so Tony just hugged him since he knew not what else to say (he never had been good with emotional stuff). Natasha joined the hug, and the three only let go of the others so that they could get ready to kick Loki's ass back to Asgard.

Tony returned to his room where he repaired the armour so that he could at least fly back to New York City – he had recognized Loki's diva act and the god needed a great power source, what better than an arc reactor? Once repaired satisfactorily, Iron Man flew to New York being closely followed by Hawkeye, Black Widow and Captain America in the Quinjet…

* * *

Iron Man had tried to destroy the machine that would open the portal for Loki's army but an energy shield had stopped him from doing so and so plan B was now in action.

He sat down on the landing pad but instead of letting the platform sink down like an elevator to his lab, he let it dismantle the armour out in the open (he was done hiding since Loki already knew of Iron Man's secret identity).

Tony left the platform and stepped into the penthouse where the God of Mischief was already waiting for him and made a beeline for the bar (which he didn't use but Pepper had once told him that rich people were expected to have some expensive alcohol stashed and so he had done so to keep up the appearance of rich party boy). At the bar his bracelets for his new prototype armour the Mark VII were located.

Meanwhile the dark haired god followed his movements closely. They exchanged a bit of banter until Tony had enough. "What do you think you can gain from this? There is no throne, no version of this were you come out on top. Maybe your army comes and maybe it's too much for us, but it's all on you. Because if we can't protect the Earth, we will be damn sure to avenge it."

They only stood one step apart now and Loki raised his sceptre as he threatened: "How will your friends and your family have time for me, if they are so busy fighting you?" The sceptre touched Tony's chest but nothing happened, except for the light 'clink' resounding through the silence that had settled upon them.

Tony's heart rate returned to a more normal pace instead of the one that had wanted his heart to break through the arc reactor. Speaking of the arc reactor: it seemed to have shielded him from Loki's voodoo and the god seemed to be extremely confused that nothing had happened, so he tried again with the same result.

"That normally works…" Tony couldn't help himself but make a stupid quip at the god and got himself a free flight through his penthouse windows in return. Only thanks to his Mark VII didn't he end up as an unidentifiable puddle on the street.

The real fight began as the portal opened and soon Iron Man was joined by Hawkeye, Black Widow and Captain America and later even Thor. They fought the Chitauri and their flying whale monsters…

* * *

"That is like Budapest all over again!" Natasha said to Clint who was standing right beside her and to Tony through the communicator. Clint gave her a sideways glance, focus never leaving the oncoming Chitauri, and said dryly: "You and I remember Budapest very differently!" Natasha smirked and the heard Tony huff a laugh as he commented, "My sentiments exactly Clint!"

* * *

Later Bruce joined them, evening the odds with the other guys help in the battle and the Hulk even managed it to smash Loki into the floor of Tony's penthouse.

Everything went well – if you didn't count the endless coming Chitauri, the cracked ribs and broken leg Tony had suffered even with his armour protecting him and the explosions rocking in Manhattan – that was until Fury suddenly told him, "Iron Man, you have a missile coming in!"


	9. Chapter 8: Good-Byes for forever? Or

**Chapter 8: Good-Byes for forever? Or a New Beginning?**

* * *

Natasha was standing on the roof of STARK Tower, with Loki's sceptre in her hand and right in front of the machine that held the Tesseract as its heart.

"I can close the portal, can anybody hear me? I can close it!" Natasha said into her communicator and was answered by Captain Rogers "Do it!" and was ready to close the distance between the sceptre and the device that kept the portal open, when suddenly Iron Man's voice joined the communication. "No! Wait!"

"Iron Man, these things are still coming!" Cap's asked.

"There is a nuke coming your way and it will blow in less then a minute!" Natasha could make out Clint's cursing as Tony told them the bad news and with Tony's next words, she could do nothing but curse too "And I know just where to put it!"  
"Iron Man, you know that's a one way trip?!"

A scarcely audible "Yeah…" came through the communicator and then Tony switched off the voice changer – not caring if Thor or Steve would recognize his voice – and said: "Clint, Tasha, in case I don't make it" _I'm so sorry_ "tell Phil that I'm sorry for not being able to give him his Captain America cards back…" And then he was gone through the portal with the nuke on his back.

Natasha let silent tears run down her cheeks while Clint scrambled out of the building he had landed in and got only one last glances of Iron Man's boots disappearing into the dark portal. The only thing that could be heard in the deafening silence that had followed the short battle pause was the static that filled their coms because of the lost connection to Iron Man.

"Come back младший брат!" Natasha whispered as she held the spear in her hands – the key of closing the portal and thus the only the thing that could bring Tony back and then Rogers said: "Close it." Hesitating for a second, Natasha finally moved the sceptre and the portal began to close.

The redhead could hear Clint's panted chant of "Come on!" through the com., which he had forgot to turn off.

The suddenly the figure of Iron Man was coming back through the portal – only seconds before it closed completely and everyone let out a collective sigh, but then they realised that he was falling lifeless through the air and fast!

Natasha's relief of seeing that he had made it back vaporised at the sight and she could do nothing but follow his fall with her eyes.

Clint was running in the direction of Thor and the Captain – always keeping an eye on the falling figure – while cursing himself for not being able to stop his brother from falling.

Rogers and Thor too were following the falling figure with their eyes and Thor got ready to catch him when suddenly the Hulk came out of nowhere and just catched him in the air, crashing into a skyscraper and then cushioning the fall to the ground for Iron Man by shielding the metal man with his own body.

Thor and Steve were hovering over the still figure of their comrade with the Hulk standing opposite from them – all three unsure of what they should do – until Clint skidded to a halt in front of them and kneeled down at Iron Man's side. He inspected his friend and when he didn't see the comforting blue light of the arc reactor shining, quiet "Oh god no!" louder he said to Natasha through the comm. "Nat the arc reactor is out, what should I do?!" He heard her cursing in Russian before she said: "Remove the mask, see if he is conscious despite the rector being down and if he is not then…" She stopped and he knew what she meant 'then we can't do anything' and did as he was told. Clint found the small release button that removed the helmet, not caring that the other Avengers were there.

At the revelation of Tony's face, Clint could hear the Captain suck in a deep breath but he focused on the still figure of his little brother. A tear escaped from his left eye as he realised that Tony really wasn't breathing anymore and then suddenly the Hulk roared! Causing Clint to fall on his backside in shock and simultaneously did Tony suck in a deep breath as if he had been underwater instead of dead. Clint was back on his feet in less than a second, leaning over Tony and tears fell onto Tony's confused face – who had realised that his faceplate was gone. Then Tony's eyes focused on Clint and he asked "Clint? What just happened?" Like an afterthought he added, "Please tell me no one kissed me."

Clint huffed a laugh, wiping away the tears while the Captain answered: "We won."

Tony looked at the Captain as if he had just realised that he was here too and looked around him to see Thor and Hulk hovering over him too – he privately panicked slightly (his secret identity had been blown up and now SHIELD would find out! Oh god, Fury would be royally pissed at him…) – out loud he said "All right. Hey. All right. Good job, guys. Let's just not come in tomorrow. Let's just take a day. Have you ever tried Shawarma? There's a Shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I wanna try it." to cover up his uneasiness about the development and Clint gave him a knowing look to which he countered with one of his own.

Meanwhile Cap gave him a puzzled look and just replied "First things first…" while his gaze shifted toward the beaten up Stark Tower where the God of Mischief, Lies and Chaos was still located.

Not really wanting to stand up (but knowing that he had to) he just said "…Then Shawarma after." without further exchange the five Avengers made their way towards the tower – Tony carrying Clint carefully, Thor took Steve and the Hulk took a few big leaps to reach it.

Before stepping into the penthouse Natasha meet them halfway – giving Tony a look that promised a world of hurt for what he had put her and Clint through (and for what he would have done to Phil, Yinsen, Pepper and Happy if he hadn't returned).

Together they stepped into the penthouse and trained their weapons at Loki who was just trying to get back up again. Loki looked at them, raising his arm in defeat and his lips twitched slightly at the corners as he said to Tony: "If it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink now." At first Tony smirked but then he looked Loki deeper into the eyes and realised that something was missing that had been there before. Before he could stop himself, he said without thinking about it: "Huh, you were being controlled too?" The sudden question startled the others and everyone gave him questioning looks.

"H-how...?" Loki stuttered and the others shifted their gazes between the two now. "Your eyes." Tony stated, as if it was the obvious thing in the world (which it was to Tony). Everyone still stared at him as if he had finally lost it (except for Clint and Natasha who knew Tony long enough that he would explain any second what he had observed that everyone else had overlooked) and he just continued calmly: "His eyes are now a brilliant green! Since Loki set first foot here on Earth, all the footage showed him with blue-green eyes and now they are a clear green. Whatever or more precisely whoever gave Loki the power to control other first made sure to control him but not like Clint or the others had been!" He again turned to Loki who looked at him as if he had never seen him before and at the same time seemed to be taken aback by Tony's conclusions. "I'm right, aren't I?" The black haired god nodded slightly in shock and then found his silver tongue again. "Yes that is right Man of Iron. A being that calls itself Thanos controlled me. He twisted my darker thoughts into something even worse and since I hadn't been in a situation of a stable mind when he found me, he had an easy job of doing so... I think I owe you all a great apology. I know that I will never be able to make all my actions undone and I don't think that I can ever be forgiv-" "Bullshit."

Loki stared at the archer who had said that and Clint, feeling uneasy about the news but still had made up his mind, sighed. "I was told that my actions under your control weren't my fault, so why should yours be your own if you were controlled too?"

The god gaped at Clint, not sure what to say. Natasha and Tony smiled slightly at the development, Steve still seemed a bit confused, the Hulk huffed and slowly began to shrink and Thor practically beamed at everyone – especially Clint and Loki.

The thunder god approached his brother and held out his hand to help him up. Once Loki was standing, Thor clasped Loki's hand between his two. "Brother, the Man of Hawkeyes is right. You cannot blame yourself for happenings that we not yours to command!"

Loki – who seemed to have finally regained his voice – said: "Thank you brother and you too Avengers."

"So since no one is pointing their weapons at him, does that mean he is innocent?" Everyone turned to a slightly shaking Bruce who was holding the meagre rest of his pants in place.

Tony was the first to answer: "Yep. I will fill you in later but lets get you some new clothes first. After that" he looked at everyone in the room "everyone will get checked for injuries by Yinsen." "And you will probably be the last to go, huh Tony?" "Ah, you know me Clint: always trying to avoid Yinsen's wrath and all that."

Tony turned away from the archer and grabbed Bruce's wrist to drag him along while seemingly talking to the air. "Jarvis, you still there buddy?"

"For you always sir." The smooth voice made Bruce, Steve and Thor jump slightly in surprise.

"Good. Is Yinsen in the medical area or did leave Manhattan like I told him?"

"Mr Yinsen is currently in the elevator and will be arriving on your floor…now."

Tony cursed slightly in different languages, before pointing Bruce to a room where he could select some new clothes from Tony's stuff, and then put on a wide grin when Yinsen stepped into view. "Yinsen! I'm glad that you're okay."  
The older man strut towards them and once standing in front of Tony calmly stating with a scary smile: "Tony Stark. What in god's name did you think you were doing, guiding that nuke into a portal that led to who knows where, while knowing that the probability of coming back alive was as good as not existing?"

If it had been possible Tony would have shrunk down under Yinsen's gaze but his armour prevented that from happening but Natasha and Clint gave him looks that said 'You brought it on yourself~'. "Yins-" "Do not 'Yinsen' me! You and-" Yinsen looked at the other Avengers – Bruce had joined them a few seconds ago – and Loki "are coming with me to the medical area and no one – yes that means you Clint and Tony – is going to talk themselves out of it."

And so they followed – Tony would have to ask Jarvis later to show him the video footage of the reaction of the Avengers since he was pretty sure that Steve had almost saluted at Yinsen's commanding tone!

* * *

In the infirmary Tony shed the rest of his armour and almost fell over if Natasha and Clint hadn't caught him in time. "Ops... seems like my leg broke despite the armour…" "Tony!" "… Sorry?"

Yinsen sighed and the two older assassins laid Tony on a bed where Yinsen checked him through. After he had given Tony medical treatment, Yinsen treated Clint's back, Natasha's wounds, Steve's stomach wound (which was already healing), Thor's stab wound (which too was healing and caused Loki to apologise profusely to his brother) and Loki's wounds. Bruce was the only one that had left the battle unscathed, which earned him a few jealous looks that he answered back with a shy smile.

They sat a while in silence until Steve shifted nervously on his spot till he suddenly blurted out "I'm sorry!"

"Huh? Oh you mean because of what you said on the Helicarrier… Well you didn't know any better and I wasn't really nice as well, so how about we call it even and forget it for now?" Tony gave the Captain a crooked smile and the other man nodded, still feeling a bit uncomfortable about it.

"… You know that Phil will still want to talk to the Captain, don't you Tony?" Natasha said from her place against the infirmary wall and Tony's smiled got a slightly evil edge. "Jep and I'm gonna enjoy the show."

Steve choose to ignore Tony's words and instead concentrated on Natasha's. "Phil? You mean Agent Coulson? But he's…dead." Clint arched an eyebrow, Tony and Natasha teamed up in giving him 'you are stupid' look and Yinsen seemed shocked at the sentence. "What?!" "He's not! Fury was just playing his game with us, as if Phil would carry his precious cards on his person!" Clint's shouted words made Yinsen relax instantly and left the others (minus Tony and Natasha of course) stunned.

"Well since that is resolved: how about we visit SHIELD HQ?" Tony said with what was definitely an evil grin…

* * *

_**Well that was that and I think I will write one last chapter and then lets see... Hope you liked it! ^^ **_


	10. Chapter 9: Solving some things

**Chapter 9: Solving some things**

* * *

Despite the gips Yinsen had given him Tony still managed it to stalk down the corridors of SHIELD NYC base – Natasha and Clint flanking him and Yinsen and the rest of the Avengers plus Loki followed them.

Their destination: Nick Fury's bureau.

The door opened thanks to Jarvis help without anyone of them doing anything, which made their entrance a bit more dramatic. Tony headed right for the desk where Director Nicholas Fury was just standing up to be better able to kick out the unwanted company. "Anthony! What are you doing?! Storming in here and with a criminal at that!"

Tony plopped himself down in the seat Nick had vacated only a moment ago – a familiar feeling, the only thing missing was his special glasses and being alone in the older man's office. The young man gave Fury a sharp grin. "Ah, well you know 'storming' your office to get some things straight _Eye-Patch_."

Fury chose to ignore Tony's constant nickname for him and instead raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Well, then enlighten me."

Tony leaned forward in the seat – taking in the fact that everyone had positioned themselves near him to signal that they were having his back (even Rogers), no matter what happened – and then said with a toothy grin: "First of all: Loki is not an enemy. Never really was since he had been controlled as well as Clint had been. So you can't blame him just as you can't blame Clint." 'Because if you do, I will make your life a living hell' was left unspoken but everyone heard the words nonetheless "Second:" his next words grew cold and got an angry edge to them "Where. Is. Phil?"

"Agent Coulson died. You saw the bloodied cards yourself." Fury replied calmly and appeared outwardly as if he wasn't even affected in the slightest by Tony's fury (pun not intended) but he couldn't fool three assassins and one God of Lies.

"Don't fuck with me! You should give me the correct answer right now or you will regret it dearly!"

Now Fury's mask cracked slightly and everyone could see that he was uncomfortable with Tony's words (he knew after all of what Tony was capable of – even with the cast on his leg – and not to forget Clint and Natasha were also very protective of Coulson). "He is in your old room. As soon as he woke up he threatened the doctors until they wheeled him there since he wasn't allowed to contact anyone yet."

Tony gave Fury a (fake) smile. "Now that wasn't so bad, was it? Let's go guys."

They were almost through the door when Tony turned back to Fury. "Oh and Nick, Natasha, Clint and Phil will only work for you if they want to now. So if you have mission for them, then they will decide themselves if they want to take them on – just like me – but their priority will be the Avengers. Understood?" The director gritted his teeth but nodded nonetheless.

"Good." And then they were gone and on their way to Tony's old room.

* * *

Everyone that saw them stepped aside – it didn't matter if they were carrying something or not – they knew not to stand in the way of the three assassins (plus company) if they valued their lives and so the Avengers (plus Yinsen and Loki) got to Tony's old room in no time.

The door opened without a problem and Tony, Natasha and Clint immediately made a beeline for the couch where their favourite Agent was lying. It was a sight for itself:

Three of the deadliest assassins of the world, hovering over their caretaker/older brother/kind-of-father-figure and were unsure what to do until Phil shifted to give them space to sit down. Clint sat on the backrest, Natasha on the armrest, Tony was sitting right beside Phil but at the same time gave Yinsen enough space to check Phil himself.

After declaring that Phil would be okay as long as he got enough rest everyone breathed a sigh of relieve. Tony got scolded by Phil – who had heard everything about the fight against the Chitauri from Jarvis (including all injuries of every Avenger) – and then tried to deflect the attention to the person who was the most nervous: Loki.

"Rudolf is innocent by the way! He too was being controlled!"

Phil then really shifted his attention to the god who was _not_ standing near Thor as if he wanted to disappear and once he had gathered enough courage to talk to the man he had nearly killed – by his own hands – he tried again to apologize for his actions but was shot down before he could even get started: "Forget it. If Tony says that you were being controlled too then it's not your own fault that I am lying here… _Maybe_ I shouldn't have confronted you without proper backup-" "Yes, that remind me: what were you thinking?!" Tony interrupted and then a small argument about taking risks started. "You have to talk Tony! Taking a nuke through a portal! Or how about the one time in Budapest?" "Ah! You too took an unnecessary risk in Budapest!" "To protect you!" "So did I!" "…Draw?" "…Agreed."

After that the rest of the Avengers started conversations; Tony informed Phil about the decision Natasha and Clint had made concerning SHIELD and what he had told Fury.

At the end of the day – before everyone said goodnight – Tony asked if everyone wanted to come to the tower with him to live there once it was repaired.

Rogers took the lead and after confirming the opinion of everyone said: "I think I speak for everyone when I say that we accept your offer."

"I'm sorry to interrupt sir, but everything is ready for the 'show'."

A mischievous smile grew on Tony's face. "Then let it roll, Jarvis."  
"Understood sir. Commencing project Pirate."

A TV screen came down from the ceiling and turned on, showing:…Fury's bureau.

The SHIELD director was working on his laptop when suddenly the song 'Yo ho a pirate's life for me' came through the speakers that were installed in the walls and Fury's screen of the laptop suddenly showed snippets of 'Pirate's of the Caribbean' and other pirate movies. Fury's face quickly turned from surprised and confusion to understanding and angry, "Anthony!"

Tony just laughed and the other soon joined him when they realised that Fury was trapped in the room (part of project Pirate was for Jarvis to look the door for a few hours) with the song and the movie snippets running the whole time.

"That's just a nice piece of what you get for lying to me Eye Patch!" Tony said even though the other man couldn't hear him and Phil gave him a knowing look and ruffled Tony's hair a bit causing the younger man to grin even wider. Natasha leaned against Tony, Clint draped with a grin of his own on Tony's shoulder and Yinsen and the other Avengers smiled at them.

* * *

_**And that was the last chapter FOR NOW! If I get new ideas - you too can send me suggestions but keep in mind that I didn't read the comics (*draws circles of shame in a corner*) and if you want me to include some of the comic things then you should then me some extra information – then I think I will continue it! ^_^ **_

_**Oh! And I will slowly begin writing the story from Phil's POV as well as give you some of my deleted chapters if want. (Because chapter 7 and 8 were totally different from what they are now!) And since I promised some a story with FrostIron for this 'Universe' I will write a short story where Tony and Loki are together (but it can be seen independent from this story - sort of like an AU for my AU ...if you understand what I mean.)**_


End file.
